


White Skies, Blue Screens

by kihophoric



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Gen, M/M, Monsta X Bingo, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 06:31:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17617298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kihophoric/pseuds/kihophoric
Summary: Minhyuk was looking forward to lunch break with his officemates only to discover, to his dismay, the heavens had given him much more than he could chew.





	White Skies, Blue Screens

It was late in the morning and the previous hustle and bustle of the intelligence agency office was dissolving into its first slowdown of the day.

 

Well, Minhyuk’s first slowdown anyway.

 

He was slouched in his chair, his head craned all the way back onto the backrest in a way that he was sure to sprain it any second. He resisted the temptation to check the time on his computer screen; it likely did not change much from thirty seconds ago. A pout on his lips, he twisted his head around to check if anyone was else was also bored out of their mind.

 

Im Changkyun was by his desk staring at his own screen, the back of a pen held between his teeth. Leaned over next to him was Lee Jooheon, gesturing to something at the screen in the middle of an explanation. Both of them were analysts, fairly new to the agency but already grew a reputation of being one of the best of their kind. They often worked together, even if put on entirely separate missions. _Like two peas in a pod,_ Minhyuk thought.

 

On the opposite side of Changkyun’s desk was Lee Wonho’s, who had his chin resting on loosely clasped hands, peering seriously ahead. Wonho...well no one knows what he does exactly, but he is “crucial to the company” as the chief often puts it. Rumor has it that Wonho and the chief had a history, the latter became indebted to Wonho and soon brought him in to return a favor. However sketchy it all was, Wonho was still a handsome hunk and was accepted by his officemates right away. As Minhyuk looked closely, he could see a bright green zig-zaggy line resembling a waveform reflecting off Wonho’s thick-framed glasses.

 

Minhyuk scoffed. _I work with a bunch of_ nerds.

 

In desperate hope he glanced over to the right at Kihyun a few steps away from him. “Psst!”

 

Without moving his head, he spoke just barely loud enough for Minhyuk to hear, “I’m busy.” Minhyuk saw this coming. Yoo Kihyun worked in forensic analytics, a job suited just for him. He would often switch from working in the lab upstairs to this office depending on the status of the mission, but no matter the location is usually one of the last to leave the building.

 

“Please, Kihyun. I’m dying,” he begged. With each word, Minhyuk pushed back on the ground with his leg, slowly rolling his chair closer to Kihyun’s desk. “Hey Kihyun. Please. Kihyun.”  

 

“Not now,” Kihyun waved him away, as he finished up the last few words of his outline. He had a stack of papers on his desk with sticky notes of different colors neatly placed as dividers between each. He pulled out a highlighter and began to look through the papers. “This report is due by the end of the day.”

 

“Oh come on. I’m hungry. Let’s get lunch.”

 

“Minhyuk it’s not even elev--”

 

“Did someone say lunch?” Chief Shownu poked his head out of his office from behind the two. Shownu was the operations chief of the agency, specifically the head of this particular division. Despite his intimidating and dominant stature, he was everything but.

 

Shownu quickly scanned the room for the source of the proposition which was immediately answered by Minhyuk jumping up and sighing in relief as he exclaimed, “Yes! Can always depend on you, chief. I am _starving_.”

 

“When are you not?” a sneery voice came from the other side of the room as a tall man with lanky limbs entered the room. Chae Hyungwon. Second in command at the office, Shownu’s sort-of assistant. He was one of the most experienced collection analysts at the agency and was currently working his way up to make it to the field. But he was also mostly an ass.

 

Minhyuk huffed and shrugged Hyungwon off, as he grabbed his coat off the back of the chair. “Whatever, I’m getting lunch. Kihyun, you coming?” before Kihyun could make so much as a retort, Minhyuk crouched down by him, his face too close for comfort and spoke almost in a whisper, “What if I convince Wonho to come along?” Minhyuk grinned as the tips of Kihyun’s ears turned pink.

 

“Stop that!” Kihyun hissed in a hushed tone. “He’s going to hear you.” Minhyuk glanced over at Wonho was in the exact same position, unaffected by the commotion. He spoke, slightly louder this time. “I don’t even think he’s alive.”

 

“I know this excellent Thai restaurant only a few blocks away,” Shownu jabbed his thumb at the general direction of said restaurant.

 

Minhyuk held his tongue from complaining that they went there earlier this week--he was just glad someone was on his side for wanting to leave. “Yes, yes. Let’s go there,” Minhyuk agreed hastily.

 

“Perfect… Kihyun? You are coming along, right?” Shownu tilted his head, his voice dropping to a gentler tone.

 

To this, Minhyuk glanced at a dejected Kihyun, the former’s mouth dropped open a little as a parade danced inside his head. Kihyun, as sharp mouthed as he can be, was weak against supervisors. Something about a fear of getting on the chief’s bad side, possibly getting demoted, and tainting his perfect record. He simply could never say no to Shownu.  

 

After a pause, Kihyun sighed exasperatedly, “Fine, I’ll come. Just give me five minutes.”

 

“Hell yeah!” Minhyuk held up his hand to high-five Shownu who returned it almost impulsively, a smile on his face and his eyes still on Kihyun.

 

Minhyuk made his way to the back of the room to a large window spanning an entire wall. “Let me check on the weather. They said it was going to rain a little, maybe some snow...”

 

“I sure hope not! I was looking forward to this part of my day,” proclaimed Shownu as he looked at Kihyun for a response.

 

His mouth formed a wide smile but the rest of Kihyun’s face was as dead as his dignity, “Yup!” he chirped. Silently wishing Minhyuk hadn’t left him along with Shownu, Kihyun buried his nose back into the pile of documents waiting to be proofread.   

 

Hyungwon, watching the dreadful situation unfold in front of him, rolled his eyes. “This is ridiculous.”

 

A shriek was heard from the other side of the room. Everyone turned their heads to see Minhyuk standing by the window, frozen in place.

 

❊

  


“‘The hell was that for?” Hyungwon cringed and tried resetting his temporary hearing loss with a finger to his ear.

 

“G-guys...” Minhyuk stammered, as he slowly looked turned to the rest of the office. “We should probably maybe start thinking about heading home now.”

 

“Oh why, is little Minhyuk scared a small flurry is going to send his car flying?” Hyungwon’s voice was pitched in excessive mockery.

 

“Well if you’re so keen, you can stay here and sleep under your desk the whole week--I could care less,” Minhyuk spat. “But I’m leaving!”

 

Everyone except Wonho briefly exchanged glances of mild amusement which in a few seconds quickly turned into sparking curiosity. At once, they ran to the nearest window, Wonho finally glancing up for a second to wonder what he had missed.

 

Confirming Minhyuk’s cries of concern, a dense fury of white relentlessly fell from the sky whipped by harsh winds, whose piercing howls were finally apparent with only a glass separating their ears from the outside world. Several stories below them, the street filled with bright red and yellow headlights as cars moved a millimeter a minute. A delivery truck’s rear wheels rotated in place, spraying snow dust everywhere as it attempted to back out.

 

“Holy sh…” Jooheon’s eyes were wide, just like everyone else’s as they stood pressed up against the window.

 

“They said two inches last night...” Kihyun mused.

 

“Indeed…” With eager eyes and pursed lips, Shownu bounded back to his office without another word.

 

“Honestly, I didn’t even check the weather, did you?” Jooheon asked to the expressionless man next to him.

 

“Nah, I go with my gut,” Changkyun responded tersely.

 

“Yeah worked out great this time, we might be stuck here,” Jooheon surprised himself with his words as he peeked at Changkyun, who was smirking.

 

“Stuck?!” the moment was interrupted by Hyungwon’s yelp, voice half-cracking. It was the end of the week and he had been working long hours. He was positive he was going home early. In less than a second, he spun on his heel back to his desk to sign off. Maybe he could still beat the worst of it.

 

Kihyun sighed from relief. This was good news. He could skip what would have been a painfully awkward lunch with his boss and will have more time to finish work. That was when Kihyun felt warmth on his cheek and soft hair tickle his ears. He assumed it was Shownu or someone, trying to peek out of the same blind opening Kihyun had made.

 

“Really came out of nowhere...” it was a deep but gentle voice, warmer than Shownu’s.

 

Kihyun gasped and turned to see a bespectacled Wonho who also backed away a little, blushing faintly.

 

“Sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you.”

 

“Ah, no it’s alright,” Kihyun smiled a small, shy smile.

 

Realizing he was in the clear, Wonho returned the smile. Their faces were still only inches away from each other, but neither made the effort to move away any further.

 

“Looks like we might be here for a while, huh?” Kihyun chuckled softly.

 

Wonho beamed, “It’s not the worst thing.”

 

A faint pink dusting his cheeks, Kihyun was sure he felt his heart skip a beat.

 

❊

 

It was a little after twelve when Minhyuk poked his head into Shownu’s office to announce his self-proclaimed early dismissal. “No can do, buckaroo. Got word that it’s safer to stay put and wait for the storm to pass.”

 

“Are you kidding me!”

 

“You live miles from downtown, don’t you? Leaving now would guarantee you getting stuck in traffic for hours. That is, if you don’t actually get stuck in the snow.”

 

Minhyuk groaned and shouted something incomprehensible to the air.

 

“When will the storm pass, chief?” Hyungwon asked brows furrowed in as he leaned over, arms propped on Shownu’s desk.

 

After a second of Shownu clicking through weather dot com, he glanced back up, “Wind will calm down later tonight and the snow tomorrow afternoon.”

 

“Eep!” Minhyuk squealed. “We are totally screwed.”

 

“I don’t fucking believe this,” Hyungwon brought a hand to his face and began massaging his temple.

 

“Doesn’t Changkyun have an apartment in the city? Maybe we can all g--”

 

“Yeah, don’t even think about it,” Changkyun spoke matter-of-factly, his expression impassive as he adjusted his watch.

 

“Aw, come on!”

 

“Minhyuk,” Shownu spoke softly, appearing almost out of thin-air next to Minhyuk and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Let it go.”

 

“Jeez, chief.”

 

“I need everyone to focus,” Shownu lifted his chin before continuing, as he stood at the foot of his office with a small crowd gathered around him, “The first floor is equipped with emergency kits and blankets. There are also a few vending machines. I suggest we make a trip down there before they run out. I can go down but I might need some help.”

 

Minhyuk opened his mouth about to volunteer when Shownu spoke again, “Kihyun? Care to tag along?”

 

 _Damn it… Come on, Kihyun,_ the analyst thought to himself as he clenched his fist. _It’s so easy. You have a mountain of work on your desk, this is the perfect opportunity to practice rejection._ “I… I have…” A few snickers were passed along his coworkers and a wave of panic shook Kihyun as he watched Shownu’s eager eyes began to turn into disappointment. “I- I have time, yeah sure!” he stuttered out. Minhyuk face palmed.

 

Relief washed over Shownu as he nodded with a grin on his face so wide, his puffy cheeks made his eyes disappear, “Perfect!”

 

He didn’t know what came over him--maybe desperation, maybe feelings he’s tried to bury deep down finally exploded through the surface--but Kihyun suddenly chirped up, “Maybe Wonho should come along?”

 

There was a brief silence in the room while a blend of impressed and shocked faces glanced at each other and then at Kihyun. A sense of warmth crept up Wonho’s cheeks as he stared at Kihyun in awe. There was no doubt in the world that Shownu would decline this suggestion, but something light stirred in him.  

 

“I mean... Chief, it might be better if he and I go, you know so you can take care of business upstairs in the office. What if something happens or you get an important call or...” Kihyun trailed off as he watched Shownu waving his hand away.

 

“Nonsense, everything will be fine. Hyungwon will be in charge, right?”

 

Suddenly straightening up, his face finally perking up for the first time that day, Hyungwon nodded, “Yes, chief!”

 

“Good. Great! Come on, Kihyun. We’ll be back in a jiff.”

 

Kihyun sneaked a peek at Wonho as they headed out to the hallway, and his heart half-sank when he saw Wonho’s not disappointed, but sweet smile. _So pretty. So close._ Kihyun sighed and didn’t even notice Minhyuk give a quick pat on his shoulder and whisper ‘A for effort’ before they headed out the door.

 

❊

 

“What is taking so long!” Minhyuk whined. “It’s been an hour since they left!”

 

“It’s been five minutes,” Hyungwon, peeking out the window for the tenth time since his nightmare begun, shook his head.

 

“It’s been an HOUR.”

 

Rolling his eyes, Hyungwon turned around and slipped his hands into his pockets, “Can’t believe I’m stuck with you clowns for the next who knows how long.”

 

“Hyungwon,” Minhyuk began, staring at Hyungwon with genuine curiosity. “Do you have any friends?”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Friends? Know what those are?”

 

“Are you--? I swear I’ll--”

 

“Hey, can you guys keep it down for like two minutes?” Usually Wonho was able to keep most noise out of his thoughts with ease, but there was almost a deafening silence with more than half the office gone. Wait… more than half the office is gone…

 

From the looks on the other two analyst’s faces as they finally stopped bickering to scan the office around them, Wonho knew they were thinking the same.

 

“Where did Jooheon and Changkyun go?”

 

As if the universe was on cue, the lights above them flickered momentarily. The three of them slowly looked up before the fluorescents flashed one last time and darkness cloaked them entirely.

 

❊

 

Several floors down, a stunned wide-eyed young analyst regretted everything as he held a pile of blankets and stood next to his supervisor in a dark, unmoving elevator.

**Author's Note:**

> Awkwardness ensues in chapter two.


End file.
